Tag Archives: career blog

Why? Because we can set aside time to work on specific projects, but if our hearts are not in it, we’ll end up drifting off or doing something completely unrelated (checking Facebook, browsing through new recipes, catching up on the latest news…).

Instead of managing blocks of time, it’s better to manage energy.

It’s more advantageous to work in short, productive bursts than in long blocks of time in which your attention wanders. When you set aside everything else (including your smart phone!) and focus on a single task, you’ll find that you’ll work better and faster than you would if you simply reserved a block of time and let your attention be captured by new emails, other projects, and social media.

The reason it’s better to work in shorter allotments of time is because human beings are not meant to slog through an entire work day without breaks. As Tony Swartz, founder of the Energy Project, says, “human beings are meant to pulse.” We work in cycles. Our concerted attention can only last for so long (typically 90 minutes, according to Schwartz).

There reaches a certain point where no amount of schedule-shuffling will enable us to stay on top of things. We may do our best to manage time, but if our energy isn’t also managed we can suffer from burnouts, stress, and unhappiness (which can bleed into our personal lives).

The lesson is: Don’t focus on your time management–just assume you’ll be busy. Instead, take care of your energy levels throughout the day.

The authors point out that your time is finite, but your energy levels can be replenished if you attend to them closely. They offer a few ways for you to do this throughout the day:

Take a break every 90-120 minutes. Physically get up from your desk and enjoy a brief change of scenery.

Eat light meals and snacks throughout the day, every couple hours.

Dedicate time every day to focus on what you’re best at and what gives you a sense of fulfillment.

They also suggest that leaders pay attention to their employee’s energy needs:

“To effectively reengergize their workforces, organizations need to shift their emphasis from getting more out of people to investing more in them…”

Keep a room devoted to taking breaks and relaxing

Subsidize gym memberships

Encourage staff to move around every so often

And I’ll add a suggestion of my own for leaders:

Energy is directly related to feedback. Positive feedback energizes folks and helps them keep the momentum going. Negative feedback, if delivered well, can also motivate people to make improvements. The point is, I find that giving specific, frequent feedback is one of the best ways to help people manage their own energy levels

MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM

When learning something new, we instinctively keep it close and secret until we feel confident that we’ve got it down pat. Usually this is because we feel embarrassed by our clumsiness with new skills. However, we can’t learn until we apply our skills, which means a bit of screwing up. You’ll find that even though screwing up might be hard on your ego, it’ll increase the rate at which you learn and respond in unique situations.

This is because of a special nerve in our bodies, called the vagus nerve. As Christopher Bergland explains in this article on Psychology Today, “When people say ‘trust your gut’ they are in many ways saying, ‘trust your vagus nerve.’ Visceral feelings and gut-instincts are literally emotional intuitions transferred up to your brain via the vagus nerve.”

Bergland goes on to say that we can teach ourselves to respond positively to the “gut-feeling” we get from the vagus nerve by being in tune with the loop between our bodies and minds and using this awareness to our advantage. Instead of choking under pressure, which comes from a negative response from the vagus nerve, we can control its signals and stay calm under stress.

Now, I’m not saying that you should go out and look for the most stressful situation you can find and purposely make your learning experience as intense as possible. Many people thrive under pressure, while others do much better using more gradual methods, and I understand that. I do want to encourage you to push the limits you think you have when you’re taking on something new, because:

Most of us underestimate ourselves.

Most of us overestimate the thing we’re learning.

You won’t really know how true either of the above are until you go out and see for yourself.

Examples of diving in:

-Giving a presentation using material you’re new to. Of course, don’t do this at your next big, job-on-the-line presentation, but do try out new materials, approaches and styles when you have a less career-defining presentation.

-Teaching yourself a skill that is outside your normal set of skills. If you’re a numbers wiz, try out some of the good literature. If you’re an extrovert, try meditation. If you’re shy, try the above suggestion!

-Wearing your mistakes as badges, knowing that each falter invariably pushes you closer to mastery.

How do you deal with handling pressure? How does it impact your ability to learn?

MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM

Halloween is right around the corner, so that got me thinking about fear and how we handle it in our daily lives. As a career coach, I often work with people who are afraid–afraid to quit their current job, afraid to ask their boss for a raise, afraid to open up and let themselves be vulnerable. While it’s a good idea to work past your fears and not let yourself become debilitated by them, the emotion itself is not a bad thing.

You feel fear for a reason. The reptilian part of our brain (primarily the amygdala) has a “fight or flight” instinct built into it that helps keep us safe. Even though we also have a logical area of our brain, governed by reason, the amygdala sometimes kicks in so strongly that we have an actual physical reaction to it.

Have you ever felt your palms sweat or your muscles stiffen when you’re asked to lead a company meeting or when you’re engaged in a particularly tense conversation? How about when your boss calls you into the office? The primitive part of your brain is likely screaming, “Run! Run far away!”

Sure, it’s a good idea to overcome that fear and step into your boss’ office, but it’s not a bad thing that you felt fear in the first place. In fact, fear can actually be a good thing. It can drive us to make big changes; it can warn us to move forward cautiously; it can motivate us to prepare for that company meeting. Instead of denying your fear, embrace it! Recognize that it exists because you’re willing to challenge yourself and do great things.

Part of being a leader involves fear and healthy risk-taking. Good leaders make tough decisions, instead of running from them or pushing them aside for someone else to deal with. And with tough decisions, comes fear.

Fear isn’t the enemy. It’s how you deal with fear that counts. Will you choose to let yourself be consumed by fear? Will you let it stop you in your tracks? Or will you face it head-on and figure out how to move past it? It’s only by challenging ourselves to move beyond our comfort zones that we achieve personal and professional growth.

Need help conquering your fears? Please do not hesitate to contact me today.

MARGARET SMITH IS A CAREER COACH, AUTHOR, INSIGHTS®DISCOVERY LICENSED PRACTITIONER, FOUNDER OF UXL, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TAG TEAM. SHE HOSTS WORKSHOPS FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED CAREER OR PERSONAL GUIDANCE. YOU CAN VISIT HER WEBSITE AT WWW.YOUEXCELNOW.COM